Empty Throne
by chimere
Summary: An AU where the unspeakable really happens. How will the siblings endure the upending of their world? Eleven drabble-chapters.
1. Reflection

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter I

**Reflection**

_By chimère_

"Do you think Narnia is really a reflection of Aslan's Country?" Susan asked her siblings.

"Of course it is," Lucy answered immediately. "Aslan said so."

"Why do you ask?" Edmund looked up from his book.

"Well, a reflection is less... less true than reality, isn't it? But at the moment, I find it difficult to believe that anything could be more real or beautiful than this."

At Susan's words, they all looked up and at each other, sitting on a balcony of Cair Paravel overlooking the Eastern Sea, bathed in warm afternoon sunlight. They understood what Susan meant.

"Who knows," Peter smiled. "Perhaps Aslan's Country is more beautiful in some way we can't even imagine yet." He turned to look to the east, where the Lion's home lay. "I hope we'll see it someday."


	2. Horror

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter II

**Horror**

_By chimère_

_We have victory._

It was always a welcome realisation, even though it was the common outcome of the military campaigns of Narnia's kings. The Northern Giants, as many others before them, could only match brute force and ferocity to the tactics, training, and discipline of the Narnian army. The battle was not over yet, but its outcome was already clear.

Peter had a moment to think that perhaps he had grown careless in his anticipation of victory. Smashed against the rocks by a Giant whose approach he hadn't noticed battling another enemy, and crushed in his armour under this new opponent's heavy foot, soon all thought fled his mind.

It was merely instinct that drowned Peter in horror at the sound of an almost inhuman voice screaming his name. The most deeply ingrained instinct: _my brother should not hurt so_.

The same horror was in a pair of wide dark eyes above him that were the last thing Peter saw before all went black.


	3. Homecoming

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter III

**Homecoming**

_By chimère_

Normally, Queen Lucy would have joined her brothers on the campaign to administer her cordial to the wounded herself. This time, struck down by a bout of pneumonia, she had given the precious bottle to the army's healers. However, her illness did not stop her from climbing to the ramparts to watch the army's homecoming. She was almost completely well, anyway.

It was only when she finally realised why the lines of soldiers were moving at such a mournfully slow pace and why there were two figures sitting on the foremost horse she recognised as Phillip, that Lucy knew she would never be well again.

Edmund had sent a brief message of victory. A wail escaped Lucy's throat when she understood, when she could no longer deny her eyes. The battle may have been won, but the army did not march home victorious. Instead, in an unnatural hush, it followed the Just King as he carried the body of his brother in front of him on the horse.


	4. Time

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter IV

**Time**

_By chimère_

The Lion regarded the three children with sorrowful golden eyes.

"It was my fault," Edmund murmured, and his sisters flinched at his toneless voice. "I got separated from him, I didn't watch his back. I couldn't get the cordial to him in time. It was my fault."

"No, dear one," Aslan said. "It was not."

"Why?" Susan's whisper was weak, the way she felt – too weak to walk like a queen, talk to her subjects, look at her siblings, even cry.

The Lion's sorrow seemed to deepen. "I cannot answer that."

"Will we see him again?" Lucy, looking very small, trembling with the vain effort to hold back tears.

Aslan's compassion seemed to flow over them. "It will take time."


	5. Empty Throne

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter V

**Empty Throne**

_By chimère_

King Edmund the Just never felt all the eyes in the Great Hall of Cair Paravel on him, never heard the weeping. Even his sisters were nothing but two tearful shadows on the side. All his attention was focused on the golden crown in his hands.

It was heavy. Much too heavy for such a finely wrought piece of metal, making his hands shake under the weight.

He reached the empty throne he forced himself not to think of as his brother's lest he collapse before the whole court, and knelt. Slowly and carefully, he set the golden crown on the marble seat.

All of Cair Paravel stared at the High King's throne that would forever remain empty.

Edmund knelt before his brother's throne, head bowed, feeling like he would never rise again.


	6. Eldest

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter VI

**Eldest**

_By chimère_

_How did you do it, Peter?_

Susan wanted to know. How does one go about being understanding, reliable, example-setting and overprotective all at once? How does one break stony silences and soothe anguished tears? She was called the Gentle Queen, but she had no idea how to handle the task that now fell to her. Negotiating treaties with ambassadors, organising supplies for the army and welcoming guests as the Lady of Cair Paravel were as nothing compared to this.

_How did you manage it so easily, Peter?_

In her heart, Susan knew why she was such a failure at being eldest. It was because she missed her elder brother almost more than she thought she could bear.


	7. Title

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter VII

**Title**

_By chimère_

_Cair Paravel is indeed a marvel, even more so than the palace of the Tisroc (may he live forever)._

Despite himself, the new Calormene ambassador was awed and intimidated. The unprecedented nobility of his surroundings made him nervous enough to have difficulty remembering his pre-rehearsed speech.

Cair Paravel, the Castle of the Four Thrones, although ruled now for several years by only Three Sovereigns... Narnia, a land inhabited by Talking Animals and Magical Creatures... Legends come alive... It was enough to confuse anyone's mind.

At least, on the first day he had an audience with only one of the sovereigns, the dark-haired and solemn Just King.

The ambassador truly didn't mean any offence, but he managed to ruin everything with the first words he uttered.

"Greetings, High King of Narnia, from..."

The ambassador stopped short when the king wearing a silver crown stood and stepped towards him, an almost savage expression on his face.

"Do you see that throne?" the king demanded furiously, indicating one of the four. The ambassador suddenly noticed that a golden crown sat on the throne. He took a step back, cowed.

"That throne belongs to the High King of Narnia," the king continued, his voice shaking with emotion. "And it is empty. I am King Edmund. My brother was the High King."


	8. Joy

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter VIII

**Joy**

_By chimère_

Queen Lucy the Valiant threw herself into arms practice, and insisted on accompanying her remaining brother on every campaign and even just patrol or exploration. She made sure that Edmund was never out of her sight or out of reach of her cordial.

It was not in Lucy's nature to be solemn for long. She could no more easily hold her laughter and curiosity in check than she could stop breathing. Now, she sometimes thought that she should abandon her joyfulness, and even though her siblings and many others told her that she brought them relief, she was not sure it was right to be the way she was.

Only Lucy herself knew that her true joy was gone. She couldn't feel it anymore, couldn't see the world bathed in sunlight and resounding with music. Together with Peter, she had made up the brighter half of her family. Susan and Edmund had always been darker, more serious. Now, Lucy's joy was outweighed by solemnity.


	9. Fallen

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter IX

**Fallen**

_By chimère_

The three siblings struggled through the thicket near the Lamp-post and suddenly found themselves standing in a cemetery. An unmistakably English cemetery.

They stared at their surroundings and at each other, mute in shock. They could barely recognise themselves – they were younger than they had been in Narnia, but older then they had been stumbling through the Wardrobe. All three wore dreary wartime English clothes.

Despite the blue summer sky overhead, the graveyard was oppressive in its silence. They were standing before a huge, obviously new cross dominating many small white stones. The graves of soldiers fallen in the war.

Suddenly Lucy gave a sob and Edmund sank to his knees before one of the stones.

It read,

_Peter Pevensie_

_11 January 1927 – 28 March 1945_

"We didn't catch the White Stag," Susan whispered sadly. "And we didn't get our wish. Even here."


	10. Remembrance

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter X

**Remembrance**

_By chimère_

"Why don't you want to talk about Narnia anymore, Susan?" There was deep hurt in Lucy's voice.

Edmund leaned against the far wall of the living room, pretending not to care, but Susan knew better.

"Why?" the older girl repeated. "Because I want to forget it."

"But why?" Lucy's eyes were wide in confusion.

"Because we can't get back. Because there are too many memories that hurt, one way or another. Because despite everything, it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Because Peter died there."

At that, Lucy sucked in a pained breath and Edmund turned deathly pale.

"And that's why I never will forget it," Susan finished softly.


	11. Reality

Disclaimer: everything in Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, some things possibly to Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, and 20th Century Fox. I'm just borrowing. Not making any money. Don't sue.

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Chapter XI

**Reality**

_By chimère_

"Where are we?" Edmund looked around in wonder and awe, but no little confusion. "Is this Narnia?"

"I think we're in Aslan's Country," Lucy whispered.

Susan had suddenly turned pale. "We died." Her lip trembled. "Oh, I should have looked after you better..."

"It's all right, Su. We're together again," a voice said behind them.

They turned, not daring to believe, and there he was, golden hair and blue eyes and wide smile, like he had never left them. Their big brother.

"Together again," Susan echoed, wonderingly. How was it possible that the world suddenly weighed a thousand times less?

Lucy burst into sobs and blindly made her way into her brother's arms. She clutched at his tunic, mumbling, "Peter, Peter, Peter..."

Susan joined them, feeling so light that she thought she might float to the sky.

After a while Peter freed himself from his sisters' arms and looked at his brother, who hadn't moved from his spot. Edmund's face was white, but there were no tears in his eyes. One emotion stood out in them – fear. Fear that this wasn't real.

Peter understood. "Remember when we talked about Narnia being a reflection?" he said. "Well, this place is real. You're real, and so am I."

Without warning, Edmund fell to his knees. His brother rushed to catch him and returned the embrace with equal fierceness when Edmund held him as though he would never let go.

"You died," the younger brother gasped. It wasn't an accusation, it was the release of years of pent-up emotion, such that it couldn't be described.

"And you lived on," Peter replied, his voice full of sad pride. "I can't imagine how brave you must have been, all of you." He looked at his sisters over his brother's shoulder, but didn't release him. "I don't know if I could have done what you did."

"Dying is fine," Edmund said, muffled, into his brother's shoulder. "As long as we still stick together."

Lucy suddenly laughed, with all her old joy. "Remember, Peter, when you said that maybe Aslan's Country was more beautiful in some way? Well, you were right."

"The prerogative of the eldest," Susan smiled.

Peter laughed, wondering how he had deserved such siblings.


End file.
